Permanent receptacle for collecting urine from women

ABSTRACT

A permanent receptacle for collecting urine from women comprises a tray (2) and an oblong bevelled funnel (5) which co-operates with the urethra; the tray has a raised lip (4) conformed to surround the female organs, inside which is located said funnel (5) surround by a gutter (10) and, on one side only by a basin (12); the funnel (5) and the gutter (10) communicate with a collecting enclosure adjacent to the tray. The collecting enclosure has emptying means associated with a pumping system.

The invention relates to a permanent urine-collecting receptacle forwomen.

European patent document No. A-148 047 and European patent document No.A-287 441 disclose equipment intended for the incontinent and making itpossible to detect and pump the urine collected in the urinary tract inorder to store it in a flexible bag, which is generally held by a belt.

This equipment is satisfactory but, in some cases, collection of theurine is less than perfect, especially when the subject adopts certainpositions, in particular a lying position. Furthermore, in cases of bothurinary and fecal incontinence, the operation of this equipment is foundto be upset by the discharge of feces.

Female incontinence is more widespread than male incontinence andimproved collecting receptacles for women have already been proposed.

Thus urine drainage devices are known which are worn permanently by thesubject. U.S. Pat. Document No. A-4,583,983 shows such a drainagedevice, which has a plate and a beveled oblong duct for cooperating withthe urethra at the urinary meatus in order to collect the urine, whichis then discharged directly under gravity into a flexible bag. Althoughthis drainage device can prove satisfactory in the simplest cases, i.e.when the female organs are of a regular shape and when the subject is ina vertical position, it is clear that it is not satisfactory when thesubject is in a lying position and/or when the anatomy of the urinaryregion is disturbed, for example following the prolapse of an organ.

Temporary collecting receptacles of the urinal kind are also known. Forexample, European patent document No. A-185 517 shows such a urinalwhich is intended to be used exclusively on a temporary basis by asubject who is lying down. This is totally different from the permanentcollecting receptacles to which the present invention relates.

The object of the invention is to prepare a permanent receptacle whichis devoid of the above-mentioned disadvantages and which is particularlysuitable for use with the detection and pumping equipment mentioned atthe beginning of this specification.

The invention achieves its object by proposing a receptacle of the plateand duct type in which the plate has a raised lip shaped so as tosurround the female organs, the said duct being located in the interiorzone of the said lip and being surrounded by a channel and, on one sideonly, by a dish; the duct and the channel communicate with a collectingchamber adjoining the plate.

By virtue of a degree of flexibility, the raised lip ensures perfectleaktightness between the collection zone and the outside, in eitherdirection. On the one hand, irrespective of the position of the femalesubject, the urine passed is collected either by the duct in the mostnormal case, or by the dish and the channel in other cases, with noleakage to the outside. On the other hand, the rear part of the lipforms a barrier to the discharge of any feces which might disturb theoperation of the device.

The collecting chamber has discharge means which can be a gravity floworifice connected, for example, to a receiving bag situated lower down;more advantageously, these means are associated with a detection andpumping system, for example the one in the patents cited at thebeginning of this specification.

In that case, the discharge means are advantageously provided in the toppart of the chamber.

The receptacle is preferably obtained by flow casting from asemi-flexible material such as a natural latex, whose flexibility makesit possible to avoid harshness on the female organs and to fit theircontour more easily.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment.Reference is made to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a 3/4 perspective of the receptacle of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the same receptacle; and

FIG. 3 is a side view thereof with a partial cutaway.

The receptacle 1 is a semi-flexible semi-rigid article advantageouslymade of natural latex and obtained by molding.

It has a plate 2 in the shape of an inverted isosceles triangle, theupward-pointing base of which has two openings 3 for the passage offront suspension straps.

A relatively flexible sealing lip 4, whose closed contour is intended tosurround the female organs, is situated on top of the plate 2. The lip 4widens slightly outwards.

A hollow collecting duct 5, oblong in shape (in top view; cf. FIGS. 1and 2) and beveled (in side view; cf. FIGS. 1 and 3), is provided insidethis lip 4, in a lower offset position, the front part 6 of the saidduct being lower than its rear part 7. The duct passes right through theplate 2 and communicates with an elongate collecting chamber 8 formedunderneath the plate 2 and adjoining the latter.

Between its two substantially parallel edges, the duct 5 possesses anintermediate partition 9, preventing the said edges from closingtogether.

At the foot of the duct 5 and all around it, a channel 10 can collectand guide the liquid into the chamber 8 through orifices 11 provided inthe bottom of the channel. The orifices 11 serve as vents when thechamber 8 is filled through the duct 5.

Towards the upper front part of the zone inside the lip 4, an elongatedish 12 can collect the liquid and direct it towards the channel 10.

Underneath the plate 2, the chamber 8 is provided, on an upper frontalwall 13, with a discharge tube 14 connected to the pumping systemdescribed in patents mentioned above. FIG. 3 shows the end of thesuction pipe 15.

The shape of the chamber 8 and the position of the suction pipe 15 andof the detection electrodes are advantageously designed so as to retaina small permanent quantity of liquid in the bag, thereby avoiding noisephenomena associated with the presence of air in the pumping circuits.

At the bottom of the chamber 8, there is a lug 16 provided with a slit17 for a lower fixing strap to pass through. If appropriate, thissupport lug 16 can be joined to a stool-retaining device next to theurine-collecting device.

What is claimed is:
 1. A permanent urine-collecting receptacle forwomen, of the type having a plate and a bevelled oblong duct forcooperating with the urethra, characterized in that the plate has araised flexible lip (4) shaped so as to surround the female organs, saidduct (5) being located in the interior zone of said lip and beingsurrounded by a channel (10) and, on one said only, by a dish (12), andthe duct (5) and the channel (10) communicating with a collectingchamber (8) adjoining the plate, said receptacle being formed from asemi-flexible material.
 2. The receptacle according to claim 1, whereinthe collecting chamber (8) has discharge means (14,15).
 3. Thereceptacle according to claim 2, wherein the discharge means areassociated with a pumping system.